


take me back (to the night we met)

by lmjposie



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, F/F, prepare for the waterworks, rip posie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-28 02:30:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18202298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lmjposie/pseuds/lmjposie
Summary: Josie talks to Penelope through the prism that simulates a conversation with a person.





	take me back (to the night we met)

Josie stared at the prism, trying to decide whether or not she should do this or not. On one hand, it would help her get to see Penelope again, even if it were just how her subconscious imagined her to be. But on the other hand, it would remind her of her absence. How she just up and left her to go to Belgium. 

 

After deliberating for a minute, she decided to bite the bullet. She’d take seeing Penelope again and trying to figure out the right words to say to her over having her last moments with her be a teary eyed one. She placed the prism down on the bench to the left of her and waited.

 

“Hey, stranger.” A familiar raspy voice said from the right of her. She offered a small smile. 

 

Josie turned and she was breath taken at the sight of the girl next to her. She wore high waisted black jeans and a loosely buttoned collared white top, showing off her bralette and array of necklaces. Penelope had only been gone for less than eighteen hours but it felt like it had been an eternity. And seeing her next to her again dressed like  _ that  _ was like the first time she ever saw her. 

 

When Josie didn’t say anything, Penelope went on. “Long time no chat.” She joked.

 

“Sorry, I was just-” Josie trailed off, not able to formulate her sentences. 

 

Concerned, Penelope asked, “What’s wrong, Jojo?” 

 

Even though she knew it was just her subconscious just telling her what she wanted to hear, she couldn’t help but get a little giddy at the mention of the nickname the girl had given her. Only Penelope had been the one to call her that and it always held a special place in her heart. “This hologram just seems all too real.” 

 

“You can thank yourself for that. Your memory of me is pretty spot on.” Penelope shrugged with a slight smirk.

 

Josie didn’t respond, only taking a deep breath. She got lost in everything about Penelope, her perfectly curled hair, her insanely attractive outfit, her entire aura, everything. “Did you have something you wanted to say to me?” Penelope queried.

 

Josie momentarily forgot why she had even summoned a hologram version of Penelope in the first place, but upon Penelope’s gentle reminder, she was sucked back into reality. “Oh, um, right.” 

 

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you evil nicknames or pushed you away. I was just hurting from the breakup. So, I’m sorry for hurting you. You didn’t need to go away completely.”

 

Penelope’s face twisted in confusion. “That’s it? That’s all you had to say to me? Sorry for hurting me is not enough.”

 

“But I am sorry. I don’t know what else to say.” Josie defended.

 

“You could’ve just sent that in a postcard or something.” Penelope ridiculed. “Yeah Penelope is head over heels for you, but do you really think that would’ve made her stay?” 

 

“She’s head over heels for me?” Josie disregarded everything else.

 

Penelope let out a frustrated sigh. “That wouldn’t have been enough for her to stay.”

 

“Then tell me what to say!” Josie exclaimed exasperatedly.

 

“Look,” Penelope said more level-headedly, “Josie, that’s not how it works. You have to figure this out for yourself.

 

“Just help me!” Josie demanded, except Penelope had vanished and the prism stopped glowing. 

 

Josie rolled her eyes. “Even fake you makes me want to burn something down.” She muttered.

 

\--

 

A couple hours later, Josie decided that she should try her luck again. She had ample time to calm down and get her feelings in check. She even drafted up a short enough apology letter. She made her way out into the meadow that Penelope and her used to come to and set out the prism. Within moments, the hologram of Penelope appeared again, wearing the same stunning outfit.

 

“Hey Jojo, how goes it?” Penelope grinned.

 

“You’re going to pretend like our last conversation never happened, just like you pretended that I didn’t burn your hair off?” Josie deadpanned.

 

Penelope shrugged it off, “It’s a new attempt, new attitude right?” 

 

“Wrong.” Josie frowned.

 

Penelope made a goofy face, trying to excite a laugh or a smile from the girl, but all it did was cause the girl more irritation. “Come on Jojo, loosen up a little.” 

 

It reminded her of how Penelope had made silly faces during the rehearsal dance for Miss Mystic Falls yesterday. It gave a pang in her heart at the memory because that’s how it was when they were dating. Penelope would always try to make Josie laugh even in the most serious of times, but Josie would be dead set on keeping a straight face. At least her conscious got this right.

 

Penelope gave up on her attempts. “So did you figure out what you wanted to say yet?” She rested her hands on her hips and looked at Josie expectantly.

 

“Yeah, actually.” Josie started getting worked up over the situation all over again, she disregarded the entire apology letter she’d written up and instead spoke solely from how she was feeling. “I had spent the entirety of our breakup wondering where I went wrong, and I find out that you broke up with me because you found out something by invading people’s privacy, and then you go on to weasle your way into my life again saying you did everything on purpose?” 

 

“Okay one, yeah it was a little nosy, but who cares? They didn’t have to use my pen, but they did. And two, I only used the information that I got to do good. Three, you don’t see it yet, but everything that I did was so you’d become a stronger person to get out from Lizzie’s shadow.” Penelope reasoned. 

 

“I am out from Lizzie’s shadow, but I’m hurting her in the process.” Josie responded.

 

Softly, Penelope said, “I’m not asking you to hurt Lizzie in the process of you becoming your own person. I just wanted to give you the best chance you can get to survive the merge.” 

 

“My dad told us about the merge. I don’t want to kill Lizzie.” Josie truthfully revealed.

 

“I know. But he also told you that he and Caroline are searching for a cure, so maybe you won’t have to. I was just preparing you for the worst possible outcome.” Penelope spoke.

 

“Even if it came to that, I couldn’t kill her. There’s no way I’d be able to do that.” 

 

“So then everything that I’ve done would’ve been for nothing?”

 

“Just two seconds ago you said you weren’t asking me to hurt Lizzie, but now you’re arguing that I should kill her if that meant that I could survive?” 

 

“For survival, yes.” Penelope urged. “If I didn’t lose you now then I would’ve lost you when I was 22. Think of all the memories and everything that we would’ve had in those six years in between. It hurt now, but how much do you think it would hurt in the future?” 

 

Josie’s heart skipped at the thought of a future with Penelope. However, it was overshadowed by the anger she felt. “I’m not talking about this with you now. I’m not going to kill Lizzie. End of story.”

 

“But you flung her into the wall earlier today, no?” 

 

“And I feel terrible about it.”

 

“What were you planning to do, Josie? You wanted to hurt your own sister. Just think about that.” And with that, Penelope disappeared into the wind yet again.

 

\--

 

Josie figured she should give this one last chance. She’s finally accepted most of her emotions and she thinks that she finally figured out what she had to say.

 

She set the prism down on the bench and waited. Even at night, the meadow that the two used to come to was still very pretty. 

 

Penelope appeared, sitting on the bench to the right of Josie. She half expected yet another screaming match to ensue, but they sat there in silence. Penelope didn’t dare to speak up.

 

Do you remember when we first go together?” Josie asked in the quiet of the night as she slid a quick glance towards Penelope. “How happy we were? It was like everything we pushed away finally came out in the open and made so much sense.”

 

“Yeah.” Penelope nodded, a bittersweet smile appearing on her face. “We decided to come here in this meadow to enjoy being together and we didn’t leave here until we absolutely had to.”

 

“We were so happy.” Josie whispered.

 

Penelope gave a bitter laugh before nodding, “I wonder what happened.”

 

In reality, Josie finally knew exactly what had happened. Josie had stopped giving Penelope the attention she needed, everything she had felt for the last year had gone away the second she had put Lizzie’s needs before her own. At first Penelope was understanding when Josie would blow off some of their dates to go help Lizzie with something. But then it started becoming incessant. And she knew that Penelope couldn’t just tell her to stop hanging out with Lizzie so much. That was Josie’s sister, she couldn’t do that. And she couldn’t tag along when Josie would go and be with Lizzie, that would just be weird.

 

Penelope knew how much time Josie was spending with Lizzie and she couldn’t deny that it bothered her. Penelope was put on the backburner while Lizzie had all the attention.

 

“I wish I read the note sooner. Then maybe, you’d actually be here with me.” Josie looked down at the ground, doing anything to avoid the girl’s intense gaze. “I hate when people leave. My birth mom left, Caroline leaves for weeks on end, my dad is barely around to notice how we’re doing.” 

 

Josie let out a bitter laugh. “You left me when you broke up with me. I don’t fully understand why yet, I still have to figure that out. But then you physically leaving? It broke me. I always thought that you’d be around, lingering in the background, waiting for me when I finally got myself together. But now you’re not, and I don’t know what to do.”

 

A tear fell from Josie’s eyes. “I slept in your bed, I wore your clothes, I painted my nails the same color as yours. All so I could feel close to you again. But all it does is make me miss you even more. I know that your scent will fade, I won’t be able to remember your cheeky smile, I’ll forget the sound of your obnoxious little laugh. And I hate it. I can’t lose you. I don’t want to lose you. But I already did.” 

 

“I’m sorry, Penelope.” Josie apologized. “I should have listened to you. It took you leaving for me to finally listen to what you had been telling me all along.” 

 

She sucked in a deep breath. “And I don’t know why I couldn’t say it back to you yesterday night. I wanted to. My entire body was screaming for me to say it, but the words got stuck in my throat. I love you too, Penelope. I always have. No matter how hard I try, I can’t unlove you.”

 

“They say that your first love will be the most special. And they were right. Maybe I’ll forget all the little things about you like the mole on the right side of your mouth or how you call yourself a turtle whenever you smile, but I won’t forget how much you loved me or how much I will always love you.” Josie took a moment to try and calm herself, but it was no use. She’d been crying freely at this point.

 

“You’d always gone on about how we need the selfless and the selfish to keep spinning. You called yourself the selfish, while I was the selfless. Well now that you’re gone, the world has stopped spinning. And it will stay that way until I find my way back to you in another life.” Josie choked out.

 

Penelope looked at Josie with a questioning stare. “I told you last time that I can’t kill Lizzie, and I’m sticking to that statement. When the merge comes, I will sacrifice myself for her. It’s what she deserves. I called her a terrible sister, when it was me that’s been horrible all along. When the slug infected me, I said despicable things to her and she forgave me with a blink of an eye. And she’ll probably forgive me for today but then I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to her for hurting her.”

 

“Well that was sweet.” Penelope chirped, breaking the emotional and sentimental moment.

 

Josie wiped away all the remaining tears off her face. “Is that really how Penelope would’ve reacted?”

 

Penelope pondered for a moment. “We both know that she would’ve been just as much of an emotional mess as you were. And that she would respond with an ‘I know’ when you told her that you loved her. Probably would’ve kissed you once or twice in between that.”

 

“But she’d also tell you that you shouldn’t give up. If you give up now, then the six years you have until that day comes will be miserable. It’s cliche, but you need to live your life to the fullest. And if you give up, everything that she’s tried to do for you will have been for nothing.” Penelope told her.

 

Penelope urged. “You have to fight. You’re strong, Jojo. Don’t give up. Your dad and your mom will find a cure to the merge. It won’t have to end like that.” 

 

“But if it does. I’ve accepted it that it’ll be that way.” Josie said with finality. She wasn’t budging from her decision. 

 

“I hate that you think that you’re not worthy of being the one to live.” Penelope voiced softly.

 

Josie shook her head. “But Lizzie deserves it more.”

 

“Maybe so. But I know that Penelope would think otherwise.” The hologram reiterated. “Go down swinging.” She whispered like she did when Penelope had escorted her down the stairs during the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. 

 

Josie looked at Penelope again and even returned the small smile that the short brunette wore.

 

Before Josie could say anything else, Josie watched as Penelope slowly vanished. Sending her a sad smile in her departure. She thought about summoning her again, except she felt like that was the proper conversation she needed her to have. It allowed her closure, it gave her optimism, and most of all, she got to see the girl smile for one last time. 

 

She thought that maybe she’d listen to hologram Penelope and go down swinging, except she also decided to do the selfish thing and listen to herself. She’d be a better sister for Lizzie, and fight if given the opportunity, but if worst comes to worst, Lizzie would have to be the one to survive the merge. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Young Posie fandom how we feeling about this?
> 
> Let me know what you think
> 
> -Kai (@phosiepark on twitter)


End file.
